Wait Until Dark
by Takara Ravenheart
Summary: Post-02 fanfic. When Cody is manipulated and taken by an evil digimon to a world where he isn't supposed to exist in, it reminds the Chosen Children, their fears and hopes may very well be their own downfall.


Hey everyone! A new fanfic from me finally…this time Adventure/02. I realised there wasn't any fics with Cody as the main character, which is a shame so here is one with him. This is set around five years after the Diaboromon movie. Thanks to **Black Angel of the Underworld **for betareading this chapter!

* * *

_**Chapter One:**_

"Go, TK!" Kari screamed over the other spectators.

Cody, who was sitting beside her, tried to get into spirit as well, but he felt so tired and ended up mindlessly watching TK dribble the ball speedily across the court. It was a bright sunny day, the perfect weather for the basketball match that was currently going on, though it didn't seem to lighten Cody's mood as much as everyone else.

He hadn't slept too well last night. Something was intercepting his dreams, someone was calling out to him but he didn't understand or know who or what it was.

He tried to shake these thoughts away. He needed to be supportive of his friend and DNA partner right now. TK would be disappointed if he zoned out in the middle of his game - or he might understand. He didn't even know why he was so dazed. Well, he did. He had not slept well at all last night. However, he forced his eyes to remain open until T.K. shot another goal.

A small smile flitted across Cody's features, however, then his vision really did blur. This was not a good time! T.K.'s team had not won the game yet. No, he had to - he had to focus. This was wrong.

Cody resisted the urge to repeatedly bang his head against the benches to stay awake. He tightened his hands around his seat and blinked hard and fast, keeping his eyes as wide as possible. Strangely, black spots soon danced in his vision and they were growing larger each second before completely taking over.

"Yolei," he managed to murmur before the world went black.

* * *

T.K. was ecstatic when his team got another point. All of his friends had come to cheer him on, which was always a nice morale booster. However, he stopped in his tracks when he heard Yolei's ear-piercing shriek of "Cody!" ring in his ears. Yolei was usually loud, so it was hard to miss it, but this time, she sounded panicked.

The game hadn't finished yet. TK's team was winning but wasn't really close. However, T.K. couldn't focus on the game anymore. He spun around, his eyes widening as he saw Cody passed out in Yolei's arms. A surge of protectiveness raced through him. What was wrong with Cody? Had he been unwell? He was his DNA partner and friend, he should have noticed if there was something wrong with him.

"Oi, T.K.!" one of his team members cried. "You're getting distracted!"

T.K. shook his head and stepped back. "I'm sorry - I - " He ran towards the bleachers to join his friends and heard his team members calling out to him; whilst he didn't blame them, he really cared more about Cody right now. "Guys, what happened?"

"We're not sure," Kari said, looking anxious. "He didn't seem all that focused since this morning. But he wanted to come even though we told him to go home." She lowered his eyes while twisting the hem of her shirt. "We were so focused on the game and now Cody is - He just fell over."

T.K. frowned, kneeling next to Cody's side. The emergency paramedics as well as Joe were checking on him already.

"Joe?" T.K. said, trying to keep the panic out of his own voice.

Joe looked at T.K. "His heart rate is rapid at the moment."

The paramedics ushered the unconscious Cody into an ambulance, before one of them turned to the group.

"Which one of you want to go with Mr. Hida?" a female ambulance officer asked.

"T.K., you go," Kari said, before Yolei could volunteer. "You did leave your game after all."

T.K. was grateful for Kari's understanding about the situation and nodded. He wanted to go anyway but at the same time, he didn't know what to say to the others. He looked to his brother, Matt, for a moment.

Matt smiled. "Relax, T.K. We'll meet you at the hospital. Everything will be fine."

Yolei sniffled. "I'm sorry for not taking good care of him, T.K.! I ruined the game for you guys. You were so close to winning."

Kari reached over and squeezed Yolei's hand. "It's not your fault."

Davis nodded. "Yeah! We should have all been watching Cody's back. He wasn't well since this mornin - Ow! Ken, what was that for?" Ken had not-so-subtly whacked him over the head.

"Timing, Davis," Ken muttered, sounding exasperated. "T.K.'s worried enough already."

Davis looked sheepish. "Oops. Sorry, TJ."

Worried was a small word to put how TK was feeling right now, but it did sum up some of his feelings. Guilt wracked through him. Cody had wanted to come support him at his game and because of that, he had passed out. Not to mention, he wasn't feeling well. So much for being a good friend.

_How could I not notice?_

His and Cody's heart beats were in sync and they could hear each other's heartbeats as clear as day. Not even he and Kari had ever been in that much sync. Yet when Cody really needed his best friend and DNA partner, he wasn't there. Pushing these thoughts back (after all, wallowing in self-pity wouldn't help), TK focused on the situation at hand and managed a smile at his friends and brother.

"Don't worry about it," T.K. said quietly. "I'll meet you guys there then, okay?"

Matt reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "We'll be right there with you as soon as we inform Cody's mother and grandpa as well."

T.K. frowned at that. "Don't tell his grandpa. He's already been so sick lately. Cody wouldn't want to worry him with this and until we know what's wrong, we shouldn't worry him."

Matt sighed a little. "Good point. Okay, we'll just inform his mother then."

T.K. smiled briefly at that, before running onto the ambulance as the doors closed shut behind him. He sat besides Cody, his face falling into a frown. He reached to touch the other's hand and shivered a little as he realised how cold it was. "Cody...hang in there, okay? We're going to bring you back. You can't quit on us, you hear me? You're a fighter like the rest of us."

He knew Cody couldn't hear him, probably might not even respond to what he was saying, but somehow he felt doing something was better than doing nothing.

His heart fell as he realised he couldn't hear Cody's heartbeat. It was like it was gone. There was nothing there. Just an empty void. The thought clutched at T.K.'s heart. Cody was just unconscious, right? Then why had their connection disappeared? What was happening to his friend?

"He'll be alright, kid," the woman paramedic said with a reassuring smile. "He's still with us."

TK managed a weak smile but still felt doubtful about Cody's condition.

Once again, he felt like he were the little eight-year-old from the first adventure, the one who was the last one to be useful to the team. Now, even when he had grown stronger, he felt powerless. He didn't know what was wrong with Cody, only that it was more serious than they thought it was. Intuition told him there was more to this than Cody not feeling well.

* * *

Armadillomon lied on the ground, snoozing off or trying to as he watched the others with amusement.

"You two quit playing around!" Gatomon scolded Patamon and Veemon as they ran around, playing a game of tag with one another.

Suddenly, however, the armadillo was snapped out of his mindless bliss when a strange feeling ran through him.

"Guys?" Armadillomon said, alarmed, causing the others to stop.

Patamon flew over and sat on Armadillomon's head, looking down at him. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost! Well...you have seen a ghost before but you didn't look that freaked out at that time!"

Armadillomon shook his head. "Didn't you guys feel that?"

Veemon blinked. "Feel what? I didn't feel anything."

Gatomon frowned and walked towards them. "Armadillomon, did you have a bad dream? You do look a bit shaken."

Wormmon crawled over as well while Hawkmon flew besides them.

Armadillomon didn't know how to explain what he had felt. For a moment, he had felt as if he weren't really there, like he was disappearing somehow. Suddenly, the nauseous feeling hit him more, only this time in large force. He actually felt like his body was disintegrating into data.

"Armadillomon!" Patamon's alarmed voice cried.

Armadillomon blinked. Patamon was no longer on his head but a blurred image in front of him.

"Armadillomon!" Hawkmon called out.

Said digimon could hear all of his friends crying out his name. He wanted to call back, to reach out to them, but they all disappeared from sight and he suddenly in another place. In contrast to his previous location - the lush green forest and soothing wind flying by - this place was the opposite. The wind was cold and the forest was purple. Not even black, but a dark purple.

In the sky, there were purple flashes of thunder, like those in a thunderstorm, only there was no sound emitting from them.

The armadillo did wonder where on earth he was at the moment until he saw a figure standing in the middle of the clearing. At first, he didn't recognise who this was but as he moved closer, his eyes widened in recognition.

"Cody!" he said, running over. What was his partner doing here?

Cody slowly turned towards him, his expression looking crestfallen. "Armadillomon...we're not supposed to be here."


End file.
